![Cover for Good Times [TV Show]](/images/displaymedia.php?id=25021&cat=3&sizew=70){kind=small}
...the film moves slowly, deliberately, albeit sometimes too leisurely along.
Casey Affleck is impressive as the central character, Robert Ford, and pretty much carries the show. We can feel the pain in his eyes when Jesse and Frank turn him down for a place in the gang, when Jesse fails to respond to his need for friendship, when the law asks him to keep an eye on Jesse, and when he finally turns the gun on his idol.
Then, too, the rest of the cast handle the smaller parts well, like Sam Rockwell as Bob's older brother Charley, a goofy sort who becomes more depressed as the story goes on, and Sam Shepard in a small role as Frank James, a tough, crotchety sort.
All of this would have worked better, however, if the thing weren't so long. "The Assassination of Jesse James" goes on for 160 minutes, most of it talk. Sure, there are some interesting conversations and the scenery is gorgeous and the silences are telling. But in the end, we get the feeling that the filmmakers have spent an awfully long time telling a simple and familiar story, with few or no new insights.
Video:
As this is another of WB's HD DVD and DVD Combo editions, you'll find a standard-definition version of the movie on one side of the disc and an HD DVD version on the other. The picture quality in SD is good, using a reasonably high bit rate and an anamorphic transfer to maintain the film's original 2.40:1 aspect ratio and ensure that everything on the screen gets the best possible treatment. The director seems to have intentionally drained the colors, though, to provide a colder, gloomier, and at the same time more old-timey feel, and the images come off a touch glassy. Other than that, facial tones are mostly natural, even though they are a bit washed out, with object delineation reasonably sharp, and film grain at a minimum.
In high definition the video quality is noticeably better, yet the high-def processing also seems to have brought out some of the worst characteristics of the picture. The images are a trifle too bright, shiny, and glossy for real life, and while black levels are intense, shadow detail tends to suffer. Colors lean more to than ever to yellows and browns, perhaps to better emulate those old, fading tintypes of the era. The small degree of grain present adds to the film's generally gritty appearance, and on close inspection one notices the faintest evidence of ringing or haloing.
Audio:
In standard definition the movie comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, which displays an ample front-channel stereo spread and a wide-ranging frequency response, with an impressively robust bass line. The audio engineers use the rear channels sparingly but effectively for gunshots, crowd noises, and musical ambience reinforcement, yet it's never overdone, meaning it's rather thin along these lines. The music is most always a quiet piano, as I've said, and the violence is far less than you might imagine. Midrange detailing is fine, and highs, when present, sparkle. In high definition the movie comes with a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack, which is a touch clearer and sharper than the regular DD track. Gunshots and crickets surround the listening area from time to time, and there is a reasonably strong dynamic impact when the occasion arises.
Extras:
If you're looking for extras on the standard-definition side, there aren't any. But on the HD DVD side, you'll find a thirty-one-minute documentary on the life of the criminal and fugitive, "The Assassination of Jesse James: Death of an Outlaw." It uses film clips from several previous Jesse James movies as well as this one, plus interviews with authors and historians to provide a background on the man and his life. In addition, there are a few trailers for other Warner products at the start-up of the SD side; thirty-seven scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired. As usual for a Warners HD DVD, the HD side also contains pop-up menus, bookmarks, a zoom-and-pan feature, and a guide to elapsed time.
Parting Shots:
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" comes through in the end, its final thirty minutes at least partially justifying one's time. But that first two hours and ten minutes can sometimes become more than a little tedious.
Then, too, the rest of the cast handle the smaller parts well, like Sam Rockwell as Bob's older brother Charley, a goofy sort who becomes more depressed as the story goes on, and Sam Shepard in a small role as Frank James, a tough, crotchety sort.
All of this would have worked better, however, if the thing weren't so long. "The Assassination of Jesse James" goes on for 160 minutes, most of it talk. Sure, there are some interesting conversations and the scenery is gorgeous and the silences are telling. But in the end, we get the feeling that the filmmakers have spent an awfully long time telling a simple and familiar story, with few or no new insights.
Video:
As this is another of WB's HD DVD and DVD Combo editions, you'll find a standard-definition version of the movie on one side of the disc and an HD DVD version on the other. The picture quality in SD is good, using a reasonably high bit rate and an anamorphic transfer to maintain the film's original 2.40:1 aspect ratio and ensure that everything on the screen gets the best possible treatment. The director seems to have intentionally drained the colors, though, to provide a colder, gloomier, and at the same time more old-timey feel, and the images come off a touch glassy. Other than that, facial tones are mostly natural, even though they are a bit washed out, with object delineation reasonably sharp, and film grain at a minimum.
In high definition the video quality is noticeably better, yet the high-def processing also seems to have brought out some of the worst characteristics of the picture. The images are a trifle too bright, shiny, and glossy for real life, and while black levels are intense, shadow detail tends to suffer. Colors lean more to than ever to yellows and browns, perhaps to better emulate those old, fading tintypes of the era. The small degree of grain present adds to the film's generally gritty appearance, and on close inspection one notices the faintest evidence of ringing or haloing.
Audio:
In standard definition the movie comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, which displays an ample front-channel stereo spread and a wide-ranging frequency response, with an impressively robust bass line. The audio engineers use the rear channels sparingly but effectively for gunshots, crowd noises, and musical ambience reinforcement, yet it's never overdone, meaning it's rather thin along these lines. The music is most always a quiet piano, as I've said, and the violence is far less than you might imagine. Midrange detailing is fine, and highs, when present, sparkle. In high definition the movie comes with a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack, which is a touch clearer and sharper than the regular DD track. Gunshots and crickets surround the listening area from time to time, and there is a reasonably strong dynamic impact when the occasion arises.
Extras:
If you're looking for extras on the standard-definition side, there aren't any. But on the HD DVD side, you'll find a thirty-one-minute documentary on the life of the criminal and fugitive, "The Assassination of Jesse James: Death of an Outlaw." It uses film clips from several previous Jesse James movies as well as this one, plus interviews with authors and historians to provide a background on the man and his life. In addition, there are a few trailers for other Warner products at the start-up of the SD side; thirty-seven scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired. As usual for a Warners HD DVD, the HD side also contains pop-up menus, bookmarks, a zoom-and-pan feature, and a guide to elapsed time.
Parting Shots:
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" comes through in the end, its final thirty minutes at least partially justifying one's time. But that first two hours and ten minutes can sometimes become more than a little tedious.
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[release]22867[/release]